


In this Place, Where there's only Me and You

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: McReyes [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Half-truths, Lies, Love, M/M, Reconciliation, Reunions, Secret Relationship, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-23 06:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: And there he was, mask and armour abandoned here in their sanctuary, an answering smile on his lips and a light in his eyes as he laid eyes on Jesse. There was more grey in his hair than there had been, and fresh lines around his eyes and a still healing cut on one cheek. He was the best thing McCree had seen in a long time, and his bag was left behind as he bolted forward, not caring how foolish he looked or the teasing he would inevitably face later. It had been too long.“Gabe…” It was the only word he managed to get out before Gabriel surged forward to meet him, tugging him closer, the desperation behind the kiss that greeted McCree, telling him that his partner had needed this just as much as he did. He was vaguely aware of his hat being knocked off, snow managing to seep down his neck, but he didn’t care, responding to the desperate kiss with his own surging emotions. It was the moments like this, their arms wrapped around each other, frantic kisses giving way to softer, gentler ones that made the secrecy and months apart bearable.That made it all worth it.





	In this Place, Where there's only Me and You

    McCree had been starting to think that he wasn’t going to get away from the Watchpoint without having to reveal where he was going, and why he wasn’t spending Christmas with the rest of the team. He could understand it, after all, it was the first Christmas since the Recall, and many of them had nowhere else to go, and it wasn’t as though they could all leave anyway as there was no guarantee that Talon wouldn’t try and take advantage of the festive period. However, there was no way he could reveal his real plans, he had considered it on more than one occasion, especially after the rest had connected the dots between Reaper and Gabriel Reyes, but as he still had no idea how to handle the fallout that he knew would follow he remained quiet.

    That didn’t work in an organisation that had been destroyed once by secrecy, and he could see the sideways looks some of the older members were giving him as it got closer to the day he needed to leave, still without a word about where he was heading. He had been expecting 76 to be the one to break the silence and outright demand an answer, the older man having become blunter since the fall, but it had been Ana who had come to sit with him the night before he was due to leave, settling down with a murmured greeting.

    She didn’t say anything, just quietly sipping her tea, but he knew that she was watching and waiting and after a few minutes he sighed. He had never been able to outlast her, it was how she had broken so easily through his stubbornness when he had first joined Blackwatch, and that hadn’t changed he realised with a wry smile as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “You might as well ask.”

“We’re just worried,” Ana pointed out, and he grimaced. That was one good thing about the long years with no one to rely on but himself, there had been no to worry about him. “It’s not like you to keep secrets.”

“I have lots of secrets,” McCree pointed out mildly. _We all do…_

“We all do,” Ana echoed his thoughts, lips quirking up as he blinked at her before she turned serious once more and there was a cautious note to her voice this time. “But, you know why we’re worried.”

“I know.”

“Then….”

“Ana…” He was going to have to say something because he did understand their worry. Overwatch existed on a knife-edge, and it wouldn’t take much to make it crumble again, and he wasn’t sure that any of them could survive that. The complete truth was out of the question though, as much as he wanted to be able to give them that and it was hard not to squirm under Ana’s gaze as he considered his words, hand tightening around his mug. “Look, a man can get lonely on the run all the time,” he said eventually, and it was true. There had been many nights when he had longed for human contact, an itch that sometimes he had been driven to sate wherever he could manage…at least until, the mug creaked in protest at his grip and he forced himself to loosen it, offering her a weak grin. “I found someone, or rather they found me during one of the worst times in my life.” That was true, twice over, no more times than that. It leant feeling to his words, and he could see Ana’s stern expression softening.

“They know who you are?”

“Yes,” McCree nodded. _They know me better than I know myself, even now,_ he thought to himself, before he lifted his head to meet her gaze, not wanting to give her any reason to press further.  “It’s why I’m trying to keep it private, it’s safer for everyone. But I can’t let them spend Christmas alone, and I don’t want to.” There was no hiding the want in his voice. He didn’t regret joining the recall, even though it placed him in direct opposition to his partner and made it harder to slip away to see him, it was nice to have a purpose again, to have company that wasn’t always trying to collect the bounty on his head. Well, if you ignored Junkrat’s less than subtle comments at times. But he did miss him…

    He jolted when Ana reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder, the sternness and concern gone from her face as she smiled at him. “It’s okay I understand,” she murmured, and there was a hint of melancholy as he added softly. “I felt the same about Fareeha. I wanted to see her more than anything, but the danger I could bring down on her head kept me away.” McCree blinked at that, knowing from Pharah that she had questioned her mother long and hard about why she had never let her know she was alive before this. Especially after Fareeha had grown up and learnt to fight for herself and he wondered if Ana had said this to her, but he wasn’t about to pry as it seemed that his answer had been enough to ease her doubts about where he was going.  “Just be careful.” It was as close to a blessing as he was going to get, and he felt a brief pang of guilt at the fact that while he hadn’t outright lied to her, he hadn’t been entirely truthful either, but the gratitude and relief in his voice when he replied was real.

“Thank you.”

**

    He left early the next morning, unhindered as Ana had let the others know that he was going to see his ‘significant other’, which had led to some teasing from Genji and Symmetra muttering a comment about how he should tidy himself up a little before he left.

    Still, he had been cautious, taking a more convoluted route than ever and regretting it when he found himself caught up in the usual pre-Christmas chaos. Since he usually spent the holiday season hidden away, he had forgotten what it was like, and he was in a foul mood when two days later he finally stepped off the train onto the empty platform. A mood, not helped by the fact that the weather had shifted over the last couple of days. And finally realising that it was winter and the chill that had been hovering in the air for the past few weeks, becoming a biting cold that had him shrinking into the shelter of his serape as he took shelter in the waiting room, carefully keeping his hat angled towards the security camera. There was no reason to get careless at this point, and he would never hear the end of it if he screwed up now.

He still heard about things he’d done as a raw recruit, and that was nearly two decades ago.

    He waited a little while, hoping that the weather would improve a little, but it seemed to be getting worse, and it wouldn’t be long before it was dark as well and there was no way he was risking the narrow path up to the cabin in the dark. He didn’t have a death wish, especially not two days before Christmas, although he was sure several people would argue to the contrary. Giving the outside world a baleful stare he squared his shoulders, hauling his small bag back over his shoulder and wrapping his serape around himself before forcing himself to step out into the cold again, hissing a curse as the wind seemed to slice straight through his clothes.

    They could’ve met somewhere warm, but no, Gabriel had insisted on the cabin. It was alright for him, he had never minded cold weather, and nowadays McCree wasn’t even sure that the cold registered with him at all, but McCree was a desert rat even after all these years. He lived for the warmth, and he began to shiver even before he had cleared the end of the platform, crossing the mercifully empty country road beyond and disappearing between the trees as he sought out the narrow path that led to his destination.

    It was little more than a footpath at the best of times, and at this time of the year when most sensible people were avoiding the weather and isolation of this place it had become nothing more than a game track. McCree stumbling more than once over the roots and weeds that had taken hold in the months since their last visit.

     Night was falling when he finally emerged from the trees again, feeling like a human ice cube as snow had started to fall a little while ago, and whilst it had only been tiny flakes to start with, it was growing heavier and he was relieved to see the lights up ahead, the cabin looming out of the darkness. McCree sped up, partly at the thought of finally being warm again, but more because the candles flickering in the window meant that Gabriel was already here.

It was their signal.

   Two candles in each window meant that Gabriel was there, and all was well. One candle meant that there was a chance they were being watched and to approach with caution. No candles and McCree was to turn back.

    The tension that he hadn’t even been aware disappeared as he saw the twin flickering flames in each window. After the trouble he’d had getting away, he had been worried that Gabriel might face similar difficulties, although he had a secret weapon that Jesse lacked. Sombra. The hacker had stumbled upon their relationship months ago, but for some reason had decided to help rather than hinder, although they were both careful to carry out any ‘favours’ she asked for as quickly as they could, as they knew all too well how quickly someone could change their colours. It had been more than that though, McCree still having a lingering feeling that this wouldn’t last, that at some point Gabriel would slip through his fingers again, even though it had been Gabriel who had sought him out first.

    He hadn’t been lying to Ana when he said that Gabriel had found him at one of the lowest points in his life, not only referring to when Gabriel had dragged him out of his life with the Deadlock gang. It had been Gabriel, or Reaper as he had appeared as that had found McCree after a bounty hunter had come a little too close to collecting the price on his head. McCree had been bleeding out, and for once unable to summon up the will to stop it, to keep going, loneliness and the pressure of staying one step ahead of everyone who wanted his head too much. He hadn’t fought when Reaper had hauled him out of the filthy alley he had retreated to.

He had broken down when waking two days later, very sore and very much alive, to find Gabriel sat by his side.

   Gabriel had been different, Zurich leaving scars, both mental and physical on the man that McCree had once believed to be immortal. But he was alive. Changed, maybe a little less human, but unmistakably alive. The look in his eyes had still been the same, the same concern, the same affection and for the first time since that horrible day that McCree had learnt that he had lost everything, McCree had felt tears trickling down his cheek.

_Gabriel was alive._

    It hadn’t been easy finding their way back. The feelings between them had still been there, and the memories. But there had also been cracks that hadn’t existed before. Cracks left by McCree leaving Blackwatch, unable to bear the pressure of the media backlash even for Gabriel’s sake, fissures left by the anger and betrayal Gabriel felt over what had happened in Zurich, and there had been times when they had both thought about walking away.

They hadn’t.

They couldn’t.

    It took time, not helped by the fact that this time they found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Well, not exactly as Gabriel had been brutally honest about what he was doing with Talon and what he would do when he had the names of whoever had ordered Zurich, wanting McCree to know that he wasn’t the traitor that the others believed Reaper to be. But, that was between them, McCree remaining silent even when he had to listen to others talking about Reaper in a way that had him wanting to leap to Gabriel’s defence.

Time had finally taught him what Gabriel hadn’t. Patience.

    This cabin, here at the edge of the woods and surrounded by wide, empty countryside had become their sanctuary. Gabriel had brought it years before, a place to escape from the pressures of his job and later a place for them to escape to where no one could walk in on them. A place where it could just be them, rather than Commander Reyes and the ex-Deadlock member that many said should never have been allowed into Blackwatch. They had built up a wealth of memories here, of nights spent curled in front of the crackling log fire during the winter months, of barbecues and beers on the decking during the summer, of soft kisses and heated mornings. It had been here, in this hidden place that they had finally found an even keel once more.

  Now as McCree hurried for the steps, he was hit with the feeling that he was home and a warm grin was already spreading across his face, even before the old wooden door creaked open. Gabriel must’ve been watching for him.

    And there he was, mask and armour abandoned here in their sanctuary, an answering smile on his lips and a light in his eyes as he laid eyes on Jesse. There was more grey in his hair than there had been, and fresh lines around his eyes and a still healing cut on one cheek. He was the best thing McCree had seen in a long time, and his bag was left behind as he bolted forward, not caring how foolish he looked or the teasing he would inevitably face later. It had been too long.

“Gabe…” It was the only word he managed to get out before Gabriel surged forward to meet him, tugging him closer, the desperation behind the kiss that greeted McCree, telling him that his partner had needed this just as much as he did. He was vaguely aware of his hat being knocked off, snow managing to seep down his neck, but he didn’t care, responding to the desperate kiss with his own surging emotions. It was the moments like this, their arms wrapped around each other, frantic kisses giving way to softer, gentler ones that made the secrecy and months apart bearable.

That made it all worth it.


End file.
